Mike Tice: Falcons’ O-line “won’t be punked over by anybody”

Posted by Michael David Smith on September 1, 2014, 8:49 AM EST

AP

The toughness of the Falcons’ offensive line has been questioned often in the last year, most notably by owner Arthur Blank, who said he was bothered when none of the Falcons’ offensive linemen reacted to a hit on quarterback Matt Ryan. This year, Falcons offensive line coach Mike Tice says his unit’s toughness won’t be in question.

Tice approved of the way his linemen went after defensive players who hit Ryan during the preseason, and he said opposing defenses had better know there will be no free shots at the Falcons’ quarterback this year.

The Falcons’ offensive line may be tougher, but it remains to be seen whether the Falcons’ offensive line will be better. The loss of left tackle Sam Baker will force Atlanta to start rookie Jake Matthews at left tackle this season, which means an unproven player is protecting Ryan’s blind side. The Falcons’ offensive line may not “be punked over,” but they still may struggle against good pass rushers.

I think matthews is going to be a stud. It was a very good pick by the falcons. Mike Tice is a solid coach. He brings toughness. Unfortunatly for him and the Falcons they have close to the worst offensive and defensive lines in all of football. This team is the complete opposite of tough and they will get beat up in the trenches. Badly.

I can see plenty of penalties this sunday and future sundays if they react when matty ice is on his back .3rd and 10 is better than 3rd and 25,I hope they make a point of reacting this sunday til they learn to pick up matty ice off the turf and go on to the next play

Mike Tice’s tenure with the Bears should have pretty much dealt the death blow to his credibility as an NFL coach. To be honest, after those disastrous years in Chicago I’m amazed anyone hired him again.

bassplucker says:Sep 1, 2014 12:08 PM

And BTW Tice’s O-Lines in Chicago never stood up for their QBs either.

fmc651 says:Sep 1, 2014 12:24 PM

After watching Hard Knocks I understand why the Falcons underachieve. That coaching staff is not impressive at all. Starting with the HC on down.

ll that
s going to happen are the Falcons take on his hothead temperment and get a lot of penalties.The team already has enough mouth and not enough backbone and now all they are getting is more mouth.Remember when the Giants got 7 sacks in one half against one of his O lines? lol.

As a Falcons fan, the off-line is very much improved. However I won’t speak about tough until after Sunday. As a matter of fact I’m more worried about keeping Matt Ryan on his feet throwing the ball than being tough…

Matthews for Baker is an immediate and possibly huge improvement while the acquisition of Asamoah also vastly improves what was a black hole last year at RG. It remains to be seen if Tice has been able to coach up Lamar Holmes although he has looked much better in the games that don’t count.
So are they the best OL in the division? Probably not, but they’re probably much better than they were last year. If Tice turns this group around he deserves to be in the running for the new assistant coach of the year award the AP will be giving out.